IICSA: David Lowe case mentioned at hearing into Catholic Church boarding schools

Posted on 5 December 2017 by Boarding Concern

David Lowe jailed for 10 years for abusing boys at Westminster Cathedral Choir School
Ex-housemaster sentenced after taking advantage of youngsters as they slept in dormitory beds and during singing lessons at Catholic private school

A former housemaster at a prestigious Catholic private school has been jailed for 10 years for sexually abusing pupils.

David Lowe, 61, took advantage of boys as they slept in their dormitory beds and during singing lessons at Westminster Cathedral Choir School.

Lowe invited the youngsters to his flat and “spanked” them when they had broken school rules.

He also crept into the vulnerable pupils’ dormitory and touched them intimately while carrying out night-time checks.

Many of his victims studied at the £16,000-a-year choir school, while others were abused at the Benedictine monk-run Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire.

The attacks, which took place between 1978 and 1984, were carried out on boys aged eight to 13.

Sentencing Lowe at London’s Southwark Crown Court, Judge Martin Beddoe told him: “All these boys were to some degree emotionally and physically vulnerable – some were more so than others.

“You took advantage of that and made it all the worse by what you did.

“What you did has remained more or less a secret for the best part of 35 years until now.

“But for the courage of all 10 complainants, in particular those most affected, a secret it would have remained.”